Five Months (Redone)
by Five-Months-of-Peace
Summary: Laughter, tears, smiles, and the works. I thought things had changed, but honestly, with all the cheesiness with it, it was me who turned around. SaixOC, please R&R
1. Chapter 1

_**Five Months (Redone)**_

_Chapter One_

Being alone isn't all bad.

No one would ever know if you said something stupid, or did something stupid, because there would be no witness. This was more than acceptable to me, since I did a lot- I repeat, a_ lot_ of stupid bullshit.

The silence as I sat on the wall that was slowly trying to lure me to sleep, and that wasn't a good idea. So, in order to distract myself, I pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one in between my teeth, flipping a lighter open and lighting it. After a long draw, I released the smoke from my mouth.

"Aw, jeez."

Who the hell was I kidding? Being alone sucked. It sucked big time. I was getting bored and no one was there to entertain me, at least.

I got off of the wall and dragged my hair over my shoulder, watching as it clumped down against my right side. Ugly. Bleh.

Durnig was in the dead of summer, and that meant the smells were particularly bad. There was the scent of campfire, a pleasant one, but it was mixed with cigarette smoke and fancy wines people drank by the bottle just to puke up again. I suppose I shouldn't complain about the smokey smell though. Ashes from my little roll of guilt had joined others' in the streets.

I tapped extra ashes from the cig and raised it again. Home was not too far now, so I took one last draw and let the thing drop, stepping on it.

I opened the door to the house, stepping inside. It was dark in the kitchen to my left, but the right side doorway still had the lights on. I stepped towards the fridge, opening it. Nothing too good lay inside, so I shut it again and went to the front room.

"Hey Ren."

Leaning over a paper and writing scratchily was a blond man, ducked over the desk. I was finding him like this more and more as of late.

"Hey Brea," he replied, leaning back. He turned around in the chair, smiling. His dark green eyes danced with lightness.

"Whatcha working on?"

Ren's lips slightly parted as he smiled, giving him an almost mischievous look- "almost" because if his life depended on him doing something involving mischief, he would lose it. "It's just a small surprise for you."

"What? Am I in trouble?" My stomach began churning. I didn't know what I did wrong, aside from smoking outside the "age limit", but stuff like that really didn't matter.

"Oh, no. This is actually a good opportunity. You'll love it."

"What is it?" I asked, wishing that he would just tell me.

"I'm not allowed to say."

"According to who?"

He stayed silent and I sighed, noticing he was still smiling. He looked proud and almost triumphant, something I rarely saw. Well... If he was good about it, it couldn't be too bad. I sighed and decided to drop it, going over and adjusting a picture on the wall. It was part of a small group of different photos, and depicted a pretty redhead with Durnig's warpaint and Ren, hugging each other and grinning.

"How do you think Kaede is doing?" I asked him, letting the frame go.

His voice held a tinge of sadness and a spice of hope as he answered. "I don't know. But she always did make the best of any situation. Maybe she's happy."

"Yeah..." I wasn't sure what else to say to that and hoped that I hadn't made a stupid mistake in asking.

"Anyway, you're home early."

"Oh, yeah, um, Himitsu was busy, and apparently so was everyone else, so it was called off. I decided to take some alone time."

"Ah." The slightly dampened merriment in his gaze fell completely. "Did you smoke?"

_Just go ahead and lie. Say that you're definitely better._

"Yeah, I had one," I admitted. Goddammit, the whole reason I'd started the smoking was because Himitsu had insisted I try to be more of a bad girl type, yet I couldn't lie about it. No point in being all bad anymore, fucking hell.

"Ah, Brea," he sighed, closing his eyes. "We talked about this."

"I know, I know, it's just really, really hard to quit a-and, y'know, it's _tough_," I defended myself. _I shouldn't have started._

"Well..." He rubbed his temple. "I suppose it is better. But still, just a little more, okay? Try a little harder."

"I will," I assured him readily. Shrugging off the vest, I left it over the chair, making the little bump of the rectangle box face him, as a kind of contract sign. I wouldn't smoke any more tonight.

"Thank you." His smile came back and I could help but give him one in return.

"So... I'm tired. I think I'll head upstairs for some rest."

"Alright then. I'll be up in maybe an hour, so if you hear something then, it's just me."

"Yup. 'Night then."

"Goodnight."

I headed upstairs towards my room, opening the door and kicking some dirty clothes out of the way. Once I somewhat cleared a path to the bed, I pulled off my clothes and grabbed a plain camisole and shorts. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

"Rise and shine!"

My hands flew to my eyes as grey sunlight hit them. A groan from my chest mixed with a big yawn, combining into a sound out of a monster movie.

"Whoa, what the hell was that?"

"I don't know," I whined, sitting up with tightly shut eyes. I groped for the covers, scowling. Laughter hit my ear, soft.

"Wait," the boy purred. "Let me get in there."

"Fuck off, Mitsu."

He laughed and threw the covers over me. I laid facedown on the mattress, wrapping the blanket around me.

"I can't let you sleep though."

"It's early!" I protested.

"It's eight twenty-four, Brea," he chuckled. I could practically see the smirk crossing his lips.

"Bleh."

"Here, wanna smoke?"

Terribly, that was the only thing that would motivate me enough to raise the covers. Himitsu smiled, blue eyes glowing.

"What brand?"

"Your favorite."

I was going to take the pack, but drew my hand back halfway there and I sighed.

"What?" he asked, looking confused. "Did you decide you don't like these anymore?"

"No, it's just... I can't. Ren caught me again last night, a-"

"Oh, c'mon."

"I'm sorry, but to be honest, it's not a big deal."

"You're such a baby. Seriously," he sighed, slipping the pack into his pocket.

"I am not," I muttered, and then sighed. Himitsu rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, are you all packed up?"

"Packed...?"

He looked at me in slight disbelief before his expression turned amused.

"Ren didn't tell you?"

"Tell me...?" I was getting annoyed at these secrets.

"You're moving up in the world, darling. We're shipping you off to Konoha."

**Goddammiiiit... I need to stop rewriting this goddamn fic. I'll never get anywhere with it otherwise! DX**

**Anywho... Did I say free hour to write? I meant free hour to do homework... Eheh... **

**It's been awhile, so erase everything you've read about Brea from your mind. She's different now. I'm in my World History class, trying not to fall asleep. Meehhh.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Five Months (Redone)_**

_Chapter Two_

"C'mon."

"No."

"_C'mon_."

"I'm not going."

Himitsu threw an exasperated look at Ren, who let out a slow, patient sigh. "I thought you would be excited. This is a great oppurtuni-"

"Opportunity?! This is dumb!" I crossed my arms, throwing a pointed look at Himitsu. "You can't make me."

"Actually, I can, and I am. Get packed," he said in a sickly sweet, **sarcastic** voice that I hated. And when I say hated, I mean really _fucking_ hated.

"Ren-"

"It's not going to be forever, Brea," he said, rubbing his temple. "You go in for six months, then you leave."

"If this makes you feel any better, it was Ren's idea," Himitsu added.

"Well... Well... You're an asshole, Mitsu."

Then I rose and left the two men in the front room. Whoopidy-doo, off I went. Goddammit. If Ren hadn't been the one doing this, I wouldn't be going. It was as simple as that.

"Fucking goddamn stupid-ass damn..." I kept muttering a slew of my favorite curses as I walked off, crossing my arms. My room was open from when I'd rushed out twenty minutes earlier, and I stormed in uninterrupted.

I pushed my way into my closet, pulling out my barely used suitcase. I opened the latches, but the double handle was tied together by a tag.

Scratch barely used, I meant brand new.

"Brea, we already have a bag packed for you. You don't need much," Himitsu said from the doorway.

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

"Look, I know you're unhappy, though I can't figure out why. If I was in your position, I'd be ecstatic to go."

Please, Sir. Keep the guilt trip coming.

"I'd want to have all the experiences I can..."

May I have another?

"... before I go off to battle, risking my life."

"I'm _sorry_, okay?" I muttered, with less venom then I'd wanted in my voice. I knew Himitsu was going to be going to battle soon, within four months maybe. If I could, I'd gladly let him take this experience.

"Not exactly the apology I was looking for." His voice managed to be demanding and gentle at the same time, with just a pinch of seductiveness.

"I'm not..." I lowered my voice to a whisper, "kissing you again, okay? That was a one time thing."

"Awwww, but Brea~" He was chuckling now, and I rolled my **eyes,** hoping Ren didn't hear that. Himitsu had gotten me hooked on smoking, but he'd only ever convinced me to drink once. And that once, I got completely and utterly drunk. It almost horrified me that his probably weren't the only lips I kissed.

"No. I gave you your apology, it's cool."

His blue eyes lit up as they detected what they thought was a challenge, but they were dampened when we heard footsteps. Hell yeah, I'd won.

Ren appeared in the doorway, beside Himitsu, who'd stepped more to the right. "We leave tomorrow, I think that's enough time to practice chakra control and manipulation. You okay with that?"

"Yeah. You gonna come with?"

"Yep. Himitsu-san?"

I grimaced. Maybe it had been too long since I'd called him with an honorific, but every time Ren did, it sounded almost... sarcastic.

It didn't bother Himitsu, though, and he said, "No. Father's called me for something. Also, if you must use an honorific, use "sama"."

With that, he left, leaving me wincing on the inside. Ohhh boy, that wasn't good.

Ren threw a smile at me, shrugging Himitsu off completely. My brother was usually very calm, very mature, but Himitsu struck a nerve once in awhile.

"Shall we get ready and go? Mirio's waiting for us."

"Why do we have to train outside?"

"Because I said."

"It's chilly!"

"Indeed. I made it chilly, just for you."

"I fucking knew it," I sighed.

Mirio crossed his arms, quirking a greying eyebrow at me. He looked younger than his age- fifty-four, if anyone cared- but it was starting to get to him. He didn't train when it required high movement like he had ten months ago, and he always seemed tired.

"Are you okay, Mirio?"

"I'm never okay."

"That explains a lot, actually."

"Okay, remember the hand sign I taught you, what... Eight years ago?"

I fitted my hands together clumsily, and he reached over and adjusted the sign. "Good. Anyway, I had a check-up recently."

"Oh yeah? How recently?"

"Two days ago. Now, try guiding all of your energy towards your feet." He watched me with steady black eyes. His left one was starting to glaze over with blindness.

"How do I do that?" I questioned, standing there while holding the sign. Durnig wasn't known for chakra-users, we weren't shinobi.

"Imagine all the blood in your body rushing down to your feet."

Oh fuck, that didn't sound... healthy. But it worked, as my feet started to glow blue.

"What'd they say?"

"Blood pressure is 140 over 90."

I grimaced. I wasn't sure what it meant, but it couldn't be healthy.

"When she told me that, I had to ask her what the hell that meant."

A snort escaped me. "Goddammit Mirio, you need to figure that out."

"Yeah, she said it wasn't good. I want you to try walking on the tree."

Slowly, I went over and stepped on the tree, holding the hand sign for dear life. Once my second foot was secure and I was parallel to the ground, he instructed me to keep walking up.

"So, the nurse says she needs to ask me some questions."

"Oh yeah? Ah-!" I wobbled a little. Jeez, this wasn't good.

"You're okay, I'll catch you if you fall. Hopefully. Anyway, yep. So the first question she asks me is, 'Are you depressed?' My response was 'You just told me I'm dying, of course I'm depressed.'"

I laughed, a little out of humor and a little out of terror. Heights, any that weren't ground level, scared me.

"What'd she ask next?"

"You're doing good. The next question was 'Are you suicidal?' 'Well, not anymore.'"

That sent me into another small fit of laughter. I was getting higher up the tree and was pretty sure I was going to die.

"I don't think it's that bad."

"I like to think ahead. It could get worse."

"Nah. Just stop-"

Something happened, I don't know what, and I fell. It wasn't a big tree, but the fall frightened me into a shocked silence. And, as kind of promised, he caught me.

"... I really hate that," I said, surprised my voice came out somewhat strong.

"You did well. I just think your body stopped, because it didn't like the sensation. You should use chakra more," he replied, setting me down on my feet.

"I've never had a reason to before now," I pointed out, stomping the ground twice to make sure it was there.

"Well, hopefully after you're thrown into the world of chakra, it'll become second nature."

_Yeah right._

"Hopefully," I mumbled instead.

"Anyway, try it on the water over there. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm going to check Ren and see if he's finished Lyrie's checkup."

"Check-? Oh, that's right." I redid the hand sign. "She's pregnant. I forgot."

"How do you just forget something like that?"

"She's not even showing, gimme a break."

Well, at the end of the day, I'd fallen into the freezing pond seven times, gotten mad and stormed off to smoke two cigarettes, then felt guilty about it afterwards and headed home to apologize, disposing of the mostly full box on the way.

Shockingly, Ren wasn't home. If I had to guess, he'd probably stayed to work on his medical ninjutsu. I left the front door unlocked and headed up to my room, not looking forward to the next day at all. It was going to suck.

**I can hear the reviews now.**

**"This chapter has nothing to do with the story!"**

**Yes, it does. The plot, no, but the characters, who are perhaps the biggest part of the story.**

**Mirio is highly based off of a mix of my own teachers. He's one of my favorite characters in the whole thing. I hope everyone likes him as much as I do. :) **

**Anywho, hopefully people liked the chapter. Next one, our protagonist does more stuff and says more things. Yay!**

**Personally? I'm thinking of posting another fanfiction with drabbles related to this, to get a feel for the characters' backstories and maybe parts of the story in another's view. Smooch smooch, zuu-zuu, I love you, and I don't want to take my test in History ever.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Five_** **_Months_**

_Chapter_ _Three_

Konoha was beautiful.

It was the first thing I noticed. Crisp, clean air, beautiful green forests surrounding it, hell, even the people were beautiful. I was both envious and awed, shocked that I was to live here and not looking forward to it at the same time.

Ren was with me and gently laid his hand on my upper back, guiding me along as we both observed. I think he felt out of place, just like me. I jumped when a huge white dog came sprinting by, a boy on his back. "C'mon Akamaru! I heard Naruto's back!"

"Oh goodie," I mumbled. "Hopefully other people watch where they're going."

"So far, they seem to be good people," Ren pointed out.

"So far," I agreed halfheartedly. I hadn't really talked to many people yet, and I was a bit wary of them. Just because they looked attractive didn't mean they were nice.

The people showed little interest in the two total strangers that headed into their village. I guess that made sense, Konoha looked like it attracted many more strangers than Durnig did. Me, however, I just wanted to touch everything. I can't explain this fascination I felt, and I could tell Ren was pretty impressed as well.

"There's the Hokage's building," he said quietly. I nodded in agreement, like I was cool. Like I could handle this.

_I'm_ _so_ _dead_.

I'd just finished that thought when I noticed the mountain.

"Holy shit," I gasped, wanting to yell it but not daring. "Did they _carve_ those faces into that thing?!"

Ren stopped beside me and we stared. Five different faces adorned the mountainside, each wearing a determined and almost heroic expression. Immediately, I felt respect for each and every one of them. They must've been something great to have this happen.

"Um, c'mon," he said eventually. We must've looked crazy, just standing there, so I followed him without complaining. The Hokage's building was huge and stood just as gloriously as the mountain, and it was just as pretty on the inside.

Ren and I headed upstairs, following the circular staircase. This led us to the roof, where we concluded we'd gone too far and headed back down. The view would've been nice if the building wasn't so damn tall.

So, because this building was so big and there was no one around, we had to search every single floor. We did manage to run into three people, one who was too busy to possibly help us out, and two who gave us very conflicting directions. When we finally found the damned office, we were running ten minutes late and I was pissed. I blew the tip of the iceberg off with some deep breaths, but it didn't help all that much.

Ren was frustrated as well, but he only let it show at the tip of his ears, which were stained red. He tried for the door handle, but I grasped it and turned it before he could get ahold of it, only to be met with a head to my face.

"Ow," I squeaked, rubbing my sore nose. Ren didn't say much of anything, but he did gently take my arms and move me aside.

The woman who'd run into me had already recovered from what damage I'd inflicted on her and was apologizing over and over, even as she rushed out the door. By the time I could make sense of what was happening and forgive her, she was gone.

"Yeah... Well..."

A short clearing of the throat brought my attention to the other end of the room. There, a woman was giving a no-bullshit business look, and, though she didn't look very old nor powerful, I knew she had complete authority. Not that I minded- I was no leader and, honestly, I needed all the leadership I could get if I was to survive till I was seventeen. Was seventy-seven too many days to count down to something? Yeah? Yeah...

"So, you're Brea," she said. "You're late."

Oh really? Maybe if your building wasn't a _fucking_ _labyrinth_, we'd of been here on time.

Ren covered for me, just barely.

"Our apologies, Milady," he said, bowing. "We got a little lost. I'm Usilida Ren."

Her glare lessened a little, which didn't surprise me in the least. Ren was better with older people, with people in general actually. He grew on people enough to have even the people most filled with hate at least tolerate him.

I bowed myself. "Usilida Brea," I mumbled, though I knew she already knew that.

"You're excused," she sighed. "Anyway, do you know anything about your nature affinity?"

Five seconds of silence passed before I realized she was talking to me, and two more before I could guess at an answer.

"Uh, female?"

Beside me, Ren snorted and tried to contain himself, half managing. "Um, Brea, she meant what element your chakra bends to."

"Oh. Um, I don't use jutsus," I replied sheepishly, hurting myself very badly mentally. What was I thinking? Gender affinity? Why would she ask that?

"That's fine. How's your chakra control?"

"I um, it's, uh, it's... I can use it," I tried. "To walk on trees and water and stuff, for a little while."

"Hm." She didn't sound very impressed, but I guess that was okay. I don't think I'm very impressive as a whole, and that was where I wanted to stay.

The rest of the meeting was me getting the keys to my own apartment. That was a little intimidating to me, I'd never lived on my own before, ignoring the two days Ren had to go and get Mom because he was concerned.

I was given directions, told to meet the team I'd be working with in an hour, also with directions, and was ushered out the door. All in all, it went not good but not too bad.

I was pretty okay, starting to build my confidence up little by little, when Ren and I both remembered he had to return home.

"Sorry," he apologized softly. "I'm really sorry, Brea. I'll be back though, okay?"

I was trying to stop my throat from tightening up, but I nodded. "'Sokay," I mumbled. "I'll be fine."

Ren smiled at me. "I know. I know.. Be good and remember- assertive, not aggressive."

"Right." Riiiiiight...

So I found my way to my new barren apartment, glancing reproachfully at everyone around me. It was just after noon and I was hungry, so I stopped and pulled out a small wallet- I refuse to call it a purse- then proceeded to the nearest food stand. It was pretty thin, but about average for Durnig standards. I hadn't expected things to cost so much more in Konoha.

Almost flinching, I forked the money over and accepted some anpan instead of the big sandwich I'd had my eye on. However, walking away and taking my first bite was heaven.

I hadn't realized that anpan could taste this good bought, the only thing that rivaled the sweet bread here was when Ren baked some. I finished it sooner that I had wanted and immediately wanted to go back for another one, regardless of cost. But, I was lazy and almost at the apartment, so I just went inside instead.

The flat was indeed tiny, but hey, it came with a fridge and a bed. That's all I needed to be happy. I explored, finding a bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a front room. It was small, but it was mine. I could live with this. Yup..

Being alone wasn't all that bad...

After exploring, I still had a good forty-five minutes, so I set my pack down and began to browse through the clothes. I lightened it up some and went to the bathroom, smoothing my hair back and flinching when it tickled my waist. I decided to hack it off first thing when I got back. Mom wouldn't be happy, but she wasn't here.

I cleaned myself up a little and tightened the metal armor that was on me. I liked armor, but this constant nervous murmur in my stomach kept saying it would be a bitch to deal with on this mission.

Coughing to myself, I sheathed twin daggers and smoothed down my grey shirt. Hopefully my team wouldn't be mean or something horrible like that.

Then I moved, heading out the door. Through a crowd of people and into sunlight. After one of two turn-arounds and a promised cigarette for myself later, I found the place. A blond boy and pink-haired girl were standing there, looking like they were chatting. I gulped and reminded myself to be "assertive" and not "aggressive".

"No kidding?" the girl asked, seeming surprised.

"Nope, it hap-"

He paused and turned to me. I ceased walking immediately and we kinda just stared at each other.

"... Hi," I tried uneasily. "You don't happen to be, um, shinabo- chinu- _shinobi_, right?" I recovered, cursing my clumsy tongue.

"Yeah, we're meeting our new team members here," the girl said, seeming relatively more helpful than the boy.

"Oh, what a coincidence. So am I."

She blinked. "Oh! It's nice to-"

We all paused as another boy stepped into the sun. He seemed the exact opposite of blondie- pale as snow and with dark hair and eyes.

Blondie, I guess, decided he didn't like that very much.

"_You_!" he shouted, pointing at the boy with a glare.

"N-Naruto, do you know him?" the girl asked, with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes! He attacked me!"

Oh. Well, he's kind of a jerk then.

I was about to say something, scold him for just attack people or something when Naruto let a small knife out of his sleeve and held it firmly while his alter-ego reached for a tanto.

Me, I was already getting ready to explain this wasn't my fault.

**Okay, okay . You got me. I am a teensy tiny bit disappointed about the lack of anything on this story. I mean, people are reading it but only one follow so far.**

** Got that off my chest, and I know Naruto just ended and this is a Naruto fanfic, so... I get it. But, I don't bite. I'm actually quite friendly. ^^**

**Anywho, this chapter, our protagonist did indeed say more stuff and do more things. Next chapter, she will try to convince that two stubborn teenage boys beating the stuffing out of each other is absolutely not her fault.**

**Personal note-**

**Tumblr is so confusing. Like really. I've just barely figured it out. In History after my test, it was super duper. I think when I go home I shall sleep, but for now, just start chapter four. Yey!**


End file.
